Military Street Bridge closure pushed back to Jan. 15

Unexpected good weather is pushing back the state's closure of the Military Street Bridge in Port Huron to Jan. 15.

The Michigan Department of Transportation will be closing the bridge to vehicle traffic for three months while work is done to upgrade the electrical system, replace and upgrade the hydraulic system, balance the counterweight and clean, repair and paint the steel structural components of the bridge.

The Military Street Bridge renovations are part of a $2.8 million project that includes fixes to the M-29 drawbridge over the Pine River in St. Clair.

The closure date for the bridge in St. Clair is unchanged. That bridge will be closed from Jan. 5 until March 31.

The Military Street Bridge, which was originally to close Jan. 2, will stay open to vehicular and pedestrian traffic until Jan. 15, but might close earlier for preliminary work, MDOT spokeswoman Diane Cross said.

The project completion date and the reopening of the bridge is March 31. There may be intermittent lane closures for additional minor work that does not require full closure but does need warmer weather to be performed.

The closure was pushed back two weeks to give Malcolm Marine Inc. of St. Clair more time to work on dredging the Black River.

Malcolm Marine has a $600,000 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contract to remove 20,000 cubic yards of sediment from the Black River from the St. Clair River upstream to the Interstate 94 overpass. Malcolm Marine has until August 2015 to complete the work, project manager Esther Johnson said.

She said the dredging project is 50 percent complete, and the contractor is not required to work during the winter months, but can do so as long as the weather is good.

"The weather is so good they want to keep on dredging. That federal contract basically trumps the state contract," said Dave Smith, transportation and engineering manager for Port Huron.

While the Military Street Bridge is closed, passenger vehicles and pedestrians will be detoured to the Seventh Street Bridge. Commercial truck traffic will be detoured to the 10th Street Bridge.

"That was the quickest detour route that MDOT would approve," Smith said.

The suggested detour around the Pine River bridge for drivers headed north on M-29 into St. Clair is left on Puttygut Road., right on King Road, and right on Fred Moore Highway.

All downtown Port Huron businesses will remain open during the construction, but Weekends gift shop owner Lee Jones said he expects the project will exacerbate the normal winter downturn.

"It goes with the territory," he said. "Before long, we'll start to wonder where everyone is and then we'll look at the bridge and we'll have that stark reminder.

"I think primarily the perception of the public is that downtown is closed, even though it is an easy detour with the Seventh Street Bridge. Collectively, Desmond District is working on things that we can do to overcome that perception," he said.

The Desmond District is the area along Military from Water Street south to Pine Street. There are special events on the fourth Friday of every month that Jones expects will continue through the construction project to keep people coming downtown.

MainStreet Port Huron manager Kristi Hazard agreed the winter months in downtown usually are quiet compared to the tourist season during the summer months, but that businesses will need to take steps, "so they don't avoid us completely."

"Stores that are doing promotions to remind people that downtown is open and ready for business would be helpful as well," she said.

Bridge pedestrian Max Erikson, 23, of Port Huron, said the closure would not affect him as much as others, since he usually walks a good distance.

"I normally alternate between the two bridges, and it doesn't add any distance for me," he said.

Contact Syeda Ferguson at (810) 989-6276 or email her at syeda@thetimesherald.com. Follow her on Twitter @shossainfe.